Once seen as the pinnacle of career success, executive leadership is increasingly marked by burnout, limited visibility into opportunities, and shifting priorities around work-life balance, according to new research from TopResume.
In today’s high-pressure and highly competitive job market, even those at the very top are quietly questioning their next move. TopResume surveyed U.S. C-suite and senior leaders to understand how executives are navigating career dissatisfaction, opaque hiring practices, and a shrinking pool of opportunities as they look ahead to 2026.
The findings reveal that 38% of U.S. C-suite professionals have often considered leaving their role in the past 12 months, including nearly one in five (19%) who say they think about it very often, a clear sign that job dissatisfaction is rising even among the most senior ranks.
The motivations behind the desire to leave their current positions reflect a redefinition of success for today’s senior leaders. More than a third (32%) desire a better work-life balance as their primary reason for wanting to leave their current role, overtaking salary compensation as the leading driver.
This is closely followed by limited growth opportunities (28%). Burnout, stress, and the need for promotion round out the top three motivations, affecting a quarter (25%) of leaders overall.
The new data also revealed stark gender disparities in how leadership pressure is experienced. Male executives are more likely to consider leaving their current position because of limited opportunities for advancement (31% vs. 20% of women), while female leaders are more likely to want to change roles because of burnout or stress (29% vs. 23% of men).
Additionally, unrealistic expectations or pressure from board and investors disproportionately affect male leaders, with almost double the percentage of men (11%) citing this compared to women (6%).
Beyond dissatisfaction, executives also face another challenge at the top: a lack of visibility into new opportunities. The data shows that just 24% of senior leaders believe more than half of executive roles are publicly advertised. Meanwhile, 21% of C-suite executives estimate that fewer than 10% of roles are ever posted publicly, further reinforcing that executive hiring largely happens behind closed doors.
Instead, networking continues to dominate the executive hiring process: 30% found their most recent role through professional or personal connections, and 55% expect to leverage their network to find their next role.
Perceptions of transparency vary sharply by gender. While most men believe executive hiring processes are transparent, nearly a third of women (31%) disagree, pointing to a persistent confidence and access gap in senior levels.
Despite strong interest in pursuing new roles, confidence is not evenly distributed among senior leaders. Women are twice as likely as men to lack confidence in landing a position at their target level (18% vs. 8%).
At the same time, many leaders believe the opportunity pool is shrinking. Nearly one in four (22%) think fewer than five realistic roles exist annually at their level, and 78% believe the executive job market has become more competitive over the past two years.
As they consider their next role, executives are also rethinking what matters most. For many, work-life balance now outranks compensation, while job security and stability, particularly among women, are rising sharply in importance.
“This data underscores a growing reality for senior leaders: even at the director, VP, and C-suite levels, the executive job market has become more competitive, less transparent, and far more strategic than it once was,” says Amanda Augustine, resident career expert for TopResume. “Many executives aren’t questioning their capabilities; rather, they’re navigating a hiring landscape where opportunities are limited, visibility is low, and confidence can waver, particularly among women.”
